Thunder Storm
by ShadowBYeBYe
Summary: A thunder storm has more weight on Sokka than it might have on other people.


Sokka ran his hand over the small girl's hair as she slept. Her head was resting in his lap as they sat by the window. Dark clouds were moving in from the south, and he couldn't help but smile. Every year, for five years, the storms would move in on the same day. Sokka looked down at his daughter and sighed. She turned five that very day. She wanted to play outside all day on her birthday. And she did. She and her little friends from the village love to pretend they were Kyoshi warriors. They painted their faces and terrorized the boys, bringing smiles to their parents as they imitated their mother's with unbridled enthusiasm. She had played so hard in the early morning hours, and now was deep asleep in his lap. He wanted her to play in the morning before the rain came. She had been hopeful that the rain wouldn't come that year.

Sokka felt a twinge in his heart as he looked back out the window. The rain always came. He closed his eyes as the rumble of thunder in the distance echoed through the hills. He took a deep breath of the fresh smell of the coming rain filled his nose. He had hated the rain for the longest time, but he had begun to find it more enticing as the years passed.

He could remember the look on Suki's face when she told him she was pregnant. She was so excited, but a fear lingered in her eyes. Fear that he would not be happy, or fear the he would dismiss it as an inconvenience. He was never sure, because the fear had vanished as soon as he smiled. He grabbed her up in a hug that would have made his gran gran proud. They were going to have a family. Sokka felt the excited run over him in frenzied torrents. He was going to be a father. He was going to have a chance to be like one the man he admired the most.

The rumbling thunder grew louder as the storm approached. He could feel the slight rumble through his chest. Suki loved the rain. She said it was nature's way of telling them to relax, that the work could wait. It would come in gentle showers or full on dregs, and she still would sit at the door and watch it with awe. More then once she pulled him out into the showers.

Sokka felt his eyes start to burn has his heart started to dive into those painful memories. Though they were of good times, they still brought tears to his eyes. He looked down as his daughter jerked awake with a loud crack of thunder. She looked up at him with her large blue eyes. He couldn't help but smile as she stood up. She ran with her small feet patting on the hard wood floor. She had a lifelong fear of the thunder. He couldn't blame her. He found himself worried with every storm that she would be taken from him. He heard her small feet pounce, and he knew she had dove into his bed. He pushed himself up from the floor and rested his hand against the glass. He could feel the cool wind pushing against the other side as he closed his eyes.

Suki was a beautiful pregnant woman. She had the perfect bump that Sokka couldn't keep his hands off of.

One distinct memory that Sokka treasured was one of the great milestones in her pregnancy. She was laying on the bed one night as he finished tying up the animals. He had walked back into the house and he could hear her laughter ringing through the house. He turned the corner of their bed room and looked at her. She had tears streaming down her face as she laughed. Sokka frowned and walked over to her. She looked up at him and her eyes were shining.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he sat on the bed next to her. She only laughed in response. She took his hand in hers and set it across her stomach. He looked at her with furrowed eyebrows. She smiled at him.

"Just wait." Sokka waited for a few moments, and then he felt it. The source of her laughter, and the most incredible feeling in the world: his child, their baby, was moving. A small push and then the entire tiny form rolled over. Sokka felt the tears in his eyes as he looked at his wife. He choked out a laugh as she sat up. He wrapped his arms around her tight. They laughed and cried as they held one another. It was all real.

Sokka shook his head as he pulled away from the glass. He turned and walked down the hall, to his bedroom. He watched his daughter as she slept. It hadn't taken her long to fall asleep after she had gotten comfortable. A shot of thunder snapped in the sky, and echoed through the house, and deep into his core. He walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket up over his daughter.

Suki was bright and cheerful throughout her entire pregnancy. She had her cravings and mild mood swings, but she was a blessing compared to other pregnant women. He had know during his life time.

A loud crack of thunder slammed through the house, as he turned and walked down the hall. He pushed the door open and looked out into the down pour. Lightening flashed in the distance, only seconds later splitting the air with the powerful roll of after noise. He stepped out into the rain and let the water wash over his face.

Suki was in labor for almost wo days, with no hope of delivery in sight. She had the will power of a bison, but her strength was fading fast as they waited for the doctor from the village over to arrive. The birthing mother had called for him after she discovered that the baby was coming out bottom first. Suki arched her back against a contraction. Sokka dabbed the sweat from her face as he held her against him. He was sitting behind her allowing her to rest her back between the agonizing forces tearing her apart. Tears ran down her face as she pushed, even though the birthing mother had told her not too. Sokka felt his heart burn as he tried to help his wife. How useless he felt. What could he do?

The rain stung at his face as he walked. The thunder echoed through him, rumbling into his chest, and curling around his heart.

Suki had almost given up, breaking into tears by the time the doctor showed. She was bleeding severely, the birthing mother said it was due to the prolonged pushing. The doctor had looked over her and shook his head.

"There is no way this baby is alive" Sokka almost felt Suki's heart drop. She fell back against him shaking as the tears overwhelmed her again. She was so tired, and her face was the color of milk. Suki kicked the doctor in the face as he checked her.

"Save my baby!" She ordered after summoning up the rest of her energy, The doctor took a moment to get over the shock of the kick.

Sokka fell down to his knees, the mud giving under them. The rain intensified, splashing violently in the water around him. He brought his han dup and ran it over the smooth stone.

Four hours, she cussed the doctor, and the birthing mother. Sokka held her as she slipped away. The doctor finally freed the child from the canal. Suki fell limp against her husband. She looked up at him, and He forced a smile.

"You did good." Sokka said as he wiped her face free, once more, of sweat. Suki looked over to the doctor. He worked with a small bulbed tool to free the child's air passage. Sokka felt Suki grab his hand as the baby let out it's first shrill cry. The doctor looked up at them.

"You have a beautiful little girl." He said as he wrapped the child in a blanket. Suki's head fell back against Sokka's chest. Her eye lids were heavy, but she looked up at him.

"A girl, Sokka. " She said her voice a mere whisper. Her eyes fell shut, as her hand slipped out of his hand. Sokka's eyes went wide as he watched her chest stop rising.

"SUKI!" The birthing nurse took the baby and the doctor pulled Sokka out from under his wife and pushed him outside. The door slammed on him as the doctor turned around. Sokka looked up as the thunder rolled over him. The clouds had gathered immensely. The sheets of rain began to fall, covering him as he moved to look in the window. He watched as the doctor pumped his wife's chest. The thunder crashed around him but he was numb. He stopped feeling the rain, when he saw Suki's lifeless arm fall from the bed.

Sokka felt the hot tear slid down his face amongst the cold rain. The thunder rolled over him. He looked down at Suki's grave and closed his eyes. Every year it had rained on the date of his daughter's birth, and his wife's death. The head Kyoshi warrior taken by nature. A cruel fate had allowed her to pass before the very power of nature that she revered so.

"Daddy?" Sokka jumped with a start and turned blinking into the rain to look at his daughter.

"Syuki, you should be in the house." He scolded. His daughter looked past him at the grave marker of her mother. He watched as her drenched form walked over and rested her hand on the stone. She turned and looked at her father.

"Dont' be sad, Daddy. Every year mommy cries on my birthday because she isn't here. " She said and wrapped her arms around her father."But she is daddy. She is in the rain." Sokka felt the warmth inside of him as the clouds split, the storming dying off. The rays of sun split the clouds and lit up Suki's grave. Sokka hugged his daughter tight. Such knowledge from a five year old.

"I know baby. I know.


End file.
